Forres father and son duo impress at World Masters Swimming Championships in Qatar as father takes home two bronze medals

A FORRES father and son duo impressed while taking part in the World Masters Swimming Championships in Qatar.

Forres Free Style Swim Club members Johnstone Macpherson-Stewart Snr and Johnstone Macpherson-Stewart Jnr both surprised themselves with how well they swam.

Competing in the Aspire Dome, the state-of-the-art swimming centre in Doha, Johnstone Jr swam a lifetime best time in the 50m freestyle coming 15th in the 25-29 Years age group.

In the 75-79 Years, Johnstone Snr swam all three breaststroke events – the 50m, 100m and 200m – ending up taking the bronze medal in both the 100m and 200m.

“The championships are nothing less than a huge swimming fest where men and women of all ages from all over the world come together to compete against each other in separate five-year age bands," Johnstone Snr said.

“There were many absolutely outstanding swimmers there, aged from 25 to over 90 years old. It was very special indeed to find myself standing on the podium, not just once but twice.”

Free Style Swim Club, the smaller of the two main clubs in Forres, approach their training in a slightly different way to most other clubs in Scotland with a clear focus based on the known science rather than relying more heavily on traditional practices.

All ages train together and the focus is on sprint swimming with an emphasis on the freestyle stroke. Every coach is qualified through the American Swimming Coaches Association.

Remarkably, as Johnstone Snr spends most of his time on the poolside in his role as the club’s Director of Swimming, his preparation for the championships was done during public sessions.

“I may well have been the only competitor at the championships to have prepared for them almost exclusively during public swimming sessions," he said.

"Without the support of the Forres pool staff and the tolerance of so many other lane users I could not possibly have done this. I am so grateful to everyone.”

The ethos at the club embraces the reality that, like so many other worthwhile activities, swimming can be used as a vehicle towards achieving other desirable ends in life and this is intentionally emphasised within the activities of the club.

With reference to his own age, Johnstone Snr added: “We are never too old to expand our own knowledge and understanding and as we age.

"It is also important to keep active as far as possible, to try to keep our weight under control, and to retain as much functional body strength as we can. Swimming is an ideal way of doing this."

For more information about the club go to www.freestylesc.org.uk